Ball game device



y 1962 H. w. SCHMIDT 3,033,566

BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Oct. 1'7, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 llg l Henry W. Schmidt IN V EN TOR.

is ATTORNEY May 8, 1962 H. w. SCHMIDT BALL GAME DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 17, 1960 Y EQ INVENTOR. Henry W. Schmidt his ATTORNEYS United States Paten 3,033,566 BALL GAME DEVICE Henry W. Schmidt, 114 Maple Terrace, Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed Oct. 17, 1%0, Ser. No. 63,210 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-26) This invention relates to a novel ball game device which I refer to by the trademark Hit It and, more particularly, to a device which will, upon striking with a driver, toss a ball upwardly through a hoop whereupon, as the result of a second swing with the driver, as the ball descends, the latter will be driven outwardly into a field area.

An outstanding disadvantage of conventional ball game apparatus is that they are notoriously the same and do not enable a single player to effect both pitching and hitting of the ball, moreover, they are not complete in themselves for actual play of the entire game.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel ball game device which is devoid of the above named disadvantages and which enables the player to both pitch the ball to himself and to strike it.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel ball tossing device which includes a hoop through which the ball is tossed before batting it and whichhoop also serves as a target for the person catching the ball in order to score a point.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a ball tossing apparatus of relatively simple and inexpensive construction which can be operated by children and grownups and which may be used both indoors and outdoors so as to provide enjoyment and entertainment to a wide variety of persons.

Other objects and advantages will'become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ball game device embodying my invention and showing the hoop in horizontal position in readiness for a ball to be driven and tossed vertically upwardly therethrough;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a driver, which is somewhat like a bat, for striking arm 11 downwardly and thereby effect tossing of the ball;

FIG. 3 is a top or plan view of a device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side or elevational view showing, in full lines, the position of the lever before striking and, in dot and dash lines, the position after striking; and,

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 4. v

Referring more particularly to the drawings, numeral 1 generally denotes a ball game device comprising a base 3 of rectangular outline of metal, wood or other suitable material, having rigidly afiixed to the top portion thereof, a pair of standards or uprights 4, preferably of wood or metal, having intermediate circular portions 5 and top end portions 6 arranged in spaced parallel relationship. If desired, rubber caps (not shown) may cover the top ends of portions 6 to prevent injury to the player. A shaft or pivot 7 extends through the top ends of the upper portions 6 to pivotally support flanges 8 of a hoop 9, which hoop is preferably in the form of a square or rectangle having sides 9'a, 9b and 9c.

If desired, the hoop 9 may be made of other shapes, such as of circular or oval shape.

Pivotally mounted at the center of the circular portions 5 of uprights 4 is a lever having a driving arm 11, the end of which is surrounded by a hard surface rubber element 11a, and having a driven arm 14 which has clipped or otherwise fastened to the free end thereof a molded cup element 15 for holding a ball (not shown) Metal or fibre washers may be placed between portions 5 and the pivotal portion of'the lever to eliminate side play and to reduce frictional resistance to pivotal movement of the lever.

A rubber bumper 17 is rigidly fastened to the top of base 3 underneath element 111a so that it will be stricken thereby when element 11a is hit downwardly by a driver or bat like element 2 shown in FIG. 2. Bumper '17 is of heavy rubber to provide durability and sufficient resiliency to create a balanced bounce. Driver 2 is flat but one end 2a is wider than the other end 2b to provide a slight taper along the length thereof. Driver 6 may be made of hickory or other wood or even stamped or forged metal, such as aluminum, or other'suitable material.

Likewise on the other side of the base a rubber bumper 16 is provided, preferably of foam rubber, for cushioning cup element 15 as it strikes the bumper element by gravity because of the greater moment arm of arm 14 and cup element 15 as compared to the moment arm of arm 11 and rubber element 11a. v

A pair of stop elements 18 are secured to the outer faces of the top portions 6 of uprights 4 so as to provide stops for the lower edges of flanges 8 to hold the hoop in the horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 1.

In operation, when the device is in the position shown in FIG. 1 with a ball (not shown) contained within the cup 15, the driver 2 is grasped by the player and swung downwardly so as to hit the top of the rubber element 11a, whereupon the latter will strike bumper 17 and in so doing the cup 15 will be suddenly lifted so as to toss the ball upwardly through hoop 9. Then as the ball descends from its upward toss, driver 2 is swung horizontally above the hoop so as to hit the ball generally in the horizontal direction or perhaps slightly upwardly thereof. Then as the ball is caught or retrieved by another player or players in the field, hoop 9 is lifted to substantially a vertical position, as shown in FIG. 5, and is held in this position by virtue of stop elements 19 whose slanted edges bear against the edges of flanges s so as to hold the loop at an acute angle relative to a vertical position. Then the fielder will attempt to throw the ball through the hoop, and if he succeeds in doing so, he will score an additional point. If desired, a latch (not shown) may be provided to latch the hoop in vertical position.

If the device is to be played indoors, rubber pads (not shown) or a rubber mat or cushion may be attached to the bottom surface of base 3 to prevent marring to the floor surface. Of course, other cushioning materials may be used instead of rubber.

Various types of balls may be used with my device, depending upon the playinglsurface and area, such as plastic balls, including perforated hollow plastic balls, sponge rubber balls, fabric covered balls, etc.

The game device may be played in a large yard, hall, gymnasium, school yard, playground, picnic ground or other locations.

Although the game apparatus may be played various ways, the following are instructions for a suitable way of playing the game.

Place the Hit-It apparatus on a spot on the playing surface that will allow as much field area available for playing surface. From the spot of the Hit-It apparatus, mark off a right and a left playing field boundary line. The boundary lines to. be on an angle from the apparatus. Place a marker or draw a line to show a playing area.

A toss of a coin can decide the team to hit first. The other players on the opposite team will be the defensive players on the playing field. A distance of 15 to 20 feet, if the area is large, could be marked off with chalk or marked in the dirt, to show the minimum distance that a ball must be driven by the driver. The defensive team should use their ingenuity in placing the players on the playing field, considering the agility of the players.

The first hitter will be allotted three balls. One ball is placed in the cup and pocket, the other two lie on' the ground or floor surface nearby. With the ball in the cup, the hitter can move the Hit-It apparatus in any position he desires at an angle or straight. He will use the driver and when ready to play will raise the driver into the air and announce Hit-It. He will drive the driver down on the rubber cushion on the end of the driving shaft and when that end strikes the cushion on the base, the ball is driven up into the air. As it ascends, if possible, or most likely, when the ball descends, the hitter will attempt to hit the ball with the driver out onto the playing field. A player will acquire a skill of knowing how far up into the air the ball should be driven so that when the ball descends he can judge just how to strike it. A great deal of skill can be developed, plus ingenuity of out-guessing the defensive players, by trying to place the driven ball at a certain spot where it may require some spectacular playing to catch the ball or stop the ball after the first bounce on the floor or ground surface. If the hitter misses the first ball tossed into the air, he is allowed one more swing. If he misses the second time, count one turn for that hitter. He will then use the second ball. Finally the third ball which gives each player on the offensive, three balls to play at one turn. If the ball is driven out of bounds, left or right or struck so that the ball caroms back of the hitter, count as a miss and another turn by that player for the ball used. Three balls to a hitter for one turn. When all players have played three balls, the ofiensive team changes places with the defensive team. When the offensive player drives the ball out on the field the defensive player or players must attempt to stop a ball driven on the ground after one bounce. Doing so, that defensive player will then stop at that position and have a chance to try for two points by throwing or tossing the ball thru the square hoop. If close by, perhaps the hoop' may be placed in a horizontal position. Far out on the field, perhaps the square hoop may be in a vertical position. If a defensive player fails to stop a ground driven ball after the first bounce, count one point for the offensive team. In the case of a fly ball, if caught by a defensive player, he will stop in his tracks, then get set to throw or toss the ball thru the hoop. If he misses or cant reach a flyball, count a point for the offensive team. If a ball is driven out of bounds, but a defensive player can catch it, it counts as no point for the offensive team, but gives the defensive player a chance to try for the two points. If within the minimum line mark established before playing the game, the defensive player is not allowed to try for the two points. This merely gives the offensive player another swing if the swing just completed was the first one for the ball being played. If this is the second swing at that ball, the offensive player is charged with a turn.

Offensive players waiting their turn to swing the driver, can help retrieve balls driven out of bounds.

Select a playing surface and position the Hit-It apparatus to assure most surface area for playing. If a ball driven up against a wall is caught by a defensive player as it caroms off the wall, no score is given for the offensive player, but this gives the defensive player a chance to try for the two points. Certain spots on the playing surface, such as obstructions and length of playing field, can be covered with rules formulated by the players, as being out of bounds and no score or no attempt for score by defensive player.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient ball playing device which enables the player to both pitch and hit the ball without assistance from others and which is highly useful for the purpose of training the player to hit a ball when in a predetermined position; also which enables setting up of a target for play by fielders so as to provide for the complete play of a ball game and afford a high degree of entertainment and amusement to persons of all agcs,'including small children, teenagers and adults.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A ball playing device, comprising a base, a standard supported on and extending vertically upwardly from said base, a lever pivotally mounted at an intermediate position thereof to said standard, a ball holding receptacle secured to the top of one end of said lever, a hoop pivotally mounted on the top end of said standard and pivotally movable to a position overlying and substantially parallel to said receptacle so that the opening of said hoop will be positioned directly above said receptacle, the other end of said lever being adapted to be hit by a driving element downwardly against the base so as to forcibly lift said one end and tossa ball, contained in said receptacle, upwardly through said hoop to enable it to be hit by the same driving element.

2. A ball playing device as recited in claim 1 together with stop means for selectively holding said hoop in a substantially vertical or substantially horizontal position.

3. A ball playing device as recited in claim 2 together with resilient bumper means secured on top of the end portions of said base so as to cushion the ends of said lever when struck thereagainst.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,008,359 Lamb July l6,'1935 2,146,156 Nicot et al. "Feb. 7, 1939 2,545,615 Hatley Mar. 20, 1951 2,805,063 Butler Sept. 3, 1957 

